Customer:

www.armstronginternational.eu - hotwater@armstronginternational.eu

Location:

Armstrong’s 99,7% Energy Efficient Gas Fired Water Heater, Flo-Direct, helps Moy Park meet production and hygiene requirements.

Moy Park

Ashbourne, United Kingdom

Poultry producer, Moy Park, with a turnover well in excess of one billion Euros operates from several sites throughout the UK and Europe. As a major supplier to both retailers and food service providers it is committed to the highest standards of hygiene and environmental care.

This commitment was a major consideration when the company expanded facilities at its Ashbourne, England plant in 2011. The need to introduce best practice methods prompted a search for a better and more efficient method of generating hot water. The existing steam boilers had to be decommissioned as they did not meet the requirements of the modern food production process and it was also necessary to eliminate the steam pipe work circulating around the site to comply with associated pressure equipment regulations.

The solution was the installation, in February 2011, of a fully packaged Armstrong Flo-Direct gas fired water heater with pumps and buffer tank. The Flo-Direct has a strong reputation for efficiency, compactness and low maintenance where almost 100 % of all the energy in the gas is transferred directly to the water being heated with no wastage via the flue. Jim McEwan, Project manager at Moy Park explains, “Hot water generation is one of the fundamental utilities required for primary poultry processing so the right choice was vital. It is used mainly for scald tank filling to allow the effective plucking of birds, hygienic wash down of equipment and general hand washing services.

All hot water required for the plant is now generated from the Flo-Direct. It is specified at 41m³ per hour of water at 65 °C and circulates around the factory where it is mixed locally to the required temperature at point-of-use. As a result the plant is now entirely steam free - an important contribution to health and safety. Jim McEwan adds, “Armstrong Flo-Direct was the first choice because of its track record in other food processing sites and I can now happily add my own voice in support. It has proved very reliable and run consistently well from the moment of commission.”

Although exact cost savings are not easily quantifiable, as the Flo-Direct installation coincided with significantly greater production and therefore water usage, Moy Park is thoroughly convinced that the installation has resulted in a considerable proportionate gas reduction and that the investment was returned remarkably quickly.

Wayne Phillips, Hot Water Sales Manager at Armstrong comments, “The Flo-Direct is recognised as the most energy efficient method of generating hot water currently available. It is 99,7% efficient (HHV) at all demands and ideal for tackling the requirements of this type of tightly managed production environment.”

Armstrong International - Europe / Middle East / Africa

Parc Industriel des Hauts-Sarts (2e Avenue), B-4040 Herstal - Belgium

Phone: +32 (0)4 240 90 90 - Fax: +32 (0)4 240 40 33